4 things you don’t know about me

This is a tough one. As someone who shares most of their life online I’ve shared a lot about myself over the years, so I’ve been having a think about 4 things you might not know. But more importantly, 4 things you might actually care about. I could tell you that I’m pretty sure I’m colour blind (although I’ve never actually been tested) but does anyone actually care about that!? And I could tell you that at grand old age of 31, I’ve finally learned how to light a fire. I grew up in a house with a coal fire and now I live in a house with a log burner so it’s completely ridiculous I’ve always relied on someone else to light the fire for me. It’s weird but I feel so strong and independent now that I can light a fire, it’s like I’ve lit some kind of cave woman instinct in myself and I feel like I can do anything (as long as Sam chops up some kindling for me because I’m not very good at the axe bit!)

Anyway, back to 4 things you don’t know about me…

I don’t like solo travel

I feel like a fraud admitting this but it’s true, I don’t enjoy solo travel. I get lonely and I get bored and I want someone to share those special memories with. I usually enjoy it for about 12 hours but then I just miss having some company.

There’s that quote from Into the Wild, ‘Happiness is only real when shared’. I don’t 100% agree with this but I do think there’s a lot of truth in it.

I travel solo a lot of the time because it’s work and I have no other option. When I work with brands I’ll always ask if there’s enough budget to bring a +1 but they’ll often say they’d prefer me to travel alone. It’s also surprisingly difficult to find someone to travel with, especially if a trip is very last-minute. It’s not often possible to find someone who can take a week off work and join me on what is essentially a work trip. And, more importantly, find someone I can be with 24/7 for 4-5 days without wanting to murder them!

I’m ridiculously indecisive

This is probably my worst personality trait – for 90% of the decisions I have to make, I’m ridiculously indecisive about it. Whether I’m deciding what to have for dinner, what to wear, where to go on holiday or my next big business decision, I’m SO indecisive. I spend days pondering big decisions and when I finally make my mind up I change it again a day later.

There are some things I’m really decisive about though and I’ll think, ‘Yes, I want to do that’, and I’ll just jump in with both feet first and do it without looking back.

My superpower is being able to sleep whenever and wherever

If I was a superhero I’d be Super Sleeping Woman.

I can’t imagine them making a cartoon about me any time soon but that’s seriously my best ability – and it’s an underrated ability too!

Even if I’m not tired I could get into bed and fall asleep immediately. Much to Sam’s disappointment, I’ll generally fall asleep within a few minutes of getting into bed. If I go up to bed before Sam, I’ll hear him shouting up the stairs, ‘Don’t turn the lights off! Don’t turn them off until I come up!’ because he knows the second I turn the lights off I’ll be gone!

I don’t oversleep. I generally have 7-8 hours of sleep a night but that’s only because I’m woken by the boys at about 6.30am every morning. If the boys aren’t around then I’ll easily sleep until midday!

We don’t have curtains in our bedroom for this very reason. I honestly just wouldn’t wake up.

This is a fabulous superpower to have for someone who travels a lot. I can sleep on planes, trains, boats, buses and any strange hotel room anywhere in the world. I’m pretty good with jetlag too as I can usually get back into the right time zone really easily.

I have a recurring nightmare I’m drowning and then I realise I can breathe underwater

This all started when I was about 7 or 8. I was on holiday with my family and we were in the swimming pool when my dad started this obstacle course game with pool inflatables. At the start of the course you had to dive into the pool through an inflatable ring and swim underneath my dad who was floating on a double lilo.

We’d been playing this game for hours and I’m pretty sure half the kids in the communal pool ended up joining us.

When it came to my final turn I gracefully dived in through the inflatable ring and swam beneath my dad on the lilo before attempting to pop back up on the other side. Only I couldn’t pop back up. I was trapped underneath the lilo and my dad was on it and I couldn’t get back up.

The panic of realising the lilo was still above me and trying to push it and feeling my chest tighten and my lungs burning will stay with me forever.

I’m sure I was trapped under that lilo for just a few seconds but, my god, it was the most terrifying 3 seconds of my young life. I still get panicky about it now.

Ever since that holiday I have this dream where I dive into a lake and as I dive in the water freezes over and I’m trapped. Just as the panic starts to take over and I’m sure I’ll pass out I realise I can actually breathe underwater and I’m filled with a natural sense of calm as I just start swimming around and usually wake up gasping for air.

I used to have this dream so often I’d actually question whether or not I could breathe underwater!

I don’t have the dream so often any more. I have it whenever I’ve been swimming or if I know I’m going swimming the next day. I have the dream whenever it comes up in conversation during the day and I’ll have it tonight because I’ve been talking about it now. I also have it whenever I watch that Harry Potter film. I think it’s the second to last one where Harry dives into an icy pond to get the Sword of Gryffindor and he gets trapped under the ice. I know Ron saves him but I can’t even watch that scene.

Monica is the founder and editor of The Travel Hack. She began the blog in 2009 when she left the UK to travel around Asia and Australia for two years. She's now a professional blogger and has travelled around the world in search of stylish adventure travel.Monica has recently had her second baby and is determined to prove that travelling with a baby is possible!

The Travel Hack is a blog about stylish adventure travel and affordable luxury.

We believe luxurious travel can be affordable and isn't just for the rich. Follow along with our worldwide adventures as we share our trips and tips for incredible travel experiences on a modest budget.